Sudoku
by JusttxJaycie
Summary: Greg is facing his toughest challenge yet, and he needs the help of the entire team to figure it out.


A/N: I was going through some old notebooks, and I found this. It takes place back when Greg was still in DNA, so it's pretty old. It was back before a lot of people knew about Sudoku as well. Some of the things said in this story were said by my friends and I during our Sudoku obsession. My best friend and I thought it would be fun to put all of this into a fan fiction, and this was the result. I hope you enjoy it. As always, please review!

Disclaimer: I own nothing other than seasons 1, 5, 6, and 7 on DVD.

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Greg looked at his computer and sighed. He was waiting on results for a major case that the entire graveyard shift was working on. While he was waiting he was trying to solve a diabolical level Sudoku. It was the last one in his book and, while he was desperate to finish it, he couldn't figure it out.

"There can only be one one in each…one?" he muttered to himself.

"What are you talking about, Greg?" someone said, sounding amused. Greg looked up to find the source of the voice. What he saw was none other than Sara Sidle leaning against the doorframe staring at him in amusement.

"Oh, hey Sara. Your results aren't ready yet."

"Yeah, I didn't think they would be, but we've gotten to the point where we can't do anything without those results. So, I decided to come and see what you were up to." Sara told him while walking closer to his desk. She looked over his shoulder a the puzzle. "Uhm…what _are _you doing?"

"It's Sudoku. You try to get the numbers one through nine in each box, column, and row without repeating any of the numbers. It is a lot of fun, but very frustrating."

"Well," Sara started, pulling a chair closer to his desk, "why don't I stay here and help you?" Greg grinned at her and together they figured out where a few more numbers went.

"Ugh!" Sara said after a while. "Eights are evil!"

"Yeah. We gotta stop those darn eights. They're just takin' over the world," a familiar voice drawled from the doorway. Greg and Sara looked up to see Nick standing at the door smirking at them with his arms crossed. He started walking towards them. "So, what are y'all doing?"

"Sudoku," Sara said simply.

"Sudo-what?" Nick asked.

"Sudoku," Greg said, amusement obvious in his voice. He explained to Nick what it was.

"Nice!" Nick said. "I want to help." He looked at the puzzle for a couple minutes before saying, "Here look. You need an eight here."

Meanwhile, Catherine and Warrick were walking all over the lab trying to find Sara and Nick. They arrived at the DNA lab in time to hear Nick say, "I've just decided I hate twos!" Warrick glanced at Catherine and they both started laughing. The other three jumped at the sudden noise.

"So, Nicky, do you want to explain your sudden hatred of the number two?" Catherine asked, while Warrick tried to control his laughter.

"I need a two but I can't figure out where it goes," Nick explained as if it were the most natural thing in the world to suddenly declare you hate the number two.

Catherine raised an eyebrow just as Greg glanced up and caught Cath's look. "Has he gone crazy?" she asked.

"No. It's Sudoku," Sara said, without looking up.

"What is Sudoku?" Warrick asked as he and Catherine walked closer to the desk.

"It's addicting," Sara answered.

"And frustrating," Nick added, "because I still don't know where this two goes."

Catherine looked at the puzzle and asked, "Well, what do you have to do?"

"Get the numbers 1-9 in each box, column, and row without repeating," Greg said.

"Well, Nicky, that means your two would go right here." Warrick pointed at one of the boxes.

"I've been workin' on that for a quarter of an hour. I hate you." Nick told Warrick. Warrick just grinned at him, while Catherine looked back at the puzzle.

Working together, the four CSIs and Greg worked out more of the puzzle before they hit a block. All they had to figure out was whether a three or a six went in that box, and they could finish the entire puzzle. Unfortunately, they couldn't figure out which it was.

"We need a new set of eyes. We can't do this on our own," Sara finally sighed.

"Yeah..."Greg said absently. At that exact second, Archie walked into the lab. "Hey. I saw the party. What's going on?"

"Have you ever done a Sudoku puzzle?" Catherine asked.

"No, but I've heard of them. Why?" Archie answered.

"We need your help. Come here," Nick said. Archie walked over to where they were working on the puzzle, and he looked at it. He studied it for almost five minutes before saying, "Sorry guys. I don't think even Grissom could figure it out."

As if on cue, Grissom appeared at the doorway. "Greg, are my results back yet? And why are all my CSIs in your lab?"

"Not yet, and Sudoku," Greg answered. Grissom walked toward them and looked at the printer. "Greg? What's this?" Greg got up and grabbed the paper. "Uh, actually, its your results."

"And?"

"The blood is a match to the father. I think he may be your guy," Greg said, after looking at the paper.

"Thank you, Greg." Grissom said. He glanced at the puzzle on Greg's desk before continuing. "Everyone, we need to get back to work. Oh, and Greg? You need a three here." He turned and walked away without saying another word. His team stared at the placed where he had just stood for a couple minutes, before Greg looked away to put the three in the place Grissom had pointed out. He quickly finished out the puzzle. Looking up at his friends, Greg said, "He was right."

Greg, Nick, Sara, Warrick, and Catherine all looked up at Archie, who wouldn't meet any of their gazes.

"Hey, Arch?" Nick said. Archie slowly turned and met Nick's eyes. "Grissom figured it out." Archie shrugged sheepishly, turned around, and walked back to his lab.

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A/N: Well, that was fun to write. One of these days, I will write a serious CSI story. Until then, please review!

Until next time,

-Jaycie


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